Volvo Group North America

In 2013, Volvo Truck announced that it would be the first North American heavy-duty vehicle manufacturer to offer trucks fueled with dimethyl ether (DME) and final assembled Four DME Volvo trucks. Volvo hopes to produce additional DME fleet vehicles for testing and is partnering with Oberon Fuels to evaluate the vehicles in fleet operations. Starting in 2014, Volvo has pursued widespread adoption of DME as a fuel in heavy duty trucks. Volvo strategists think that DME has a number of advantages over conventional diesel and other alternative fuels including producing virtually no soot, eliminating the need for particulate filters. The DME engine is based on the stock diesel engine and requires no modifications to the fueling system or controls strategy. Because the DME engine is based on the conventional platform, it can match diesel engine torque curves and provides comparable fuel efficiency. Also, leakage is not as critical an issue in terms of climate impacts, since DME is not a greenhouse gas and DME is a non-toxic, non-carcinogenic fuel.